


I See It In Your Eyes

by MonsterAmongCashton (IfWallsCouldMuke)



Series: CASHTON5EVA [3]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: (Basically Teen Wolf AU with my own additions like), Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Claiming Bites, Daddy Kink, Gay Sex, Knotting, M/M, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation, Surprise Ending, Werewolf Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 23:02:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13087266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IfWallsCouldMuke/pseuds/MonsterAmongCashton
Summary: “Sorry, I’m—” he stops.I’m what? Being chased by some werewolf hunter personnel?“Tonight’s your lucky night, wolf, ‘cause I wasn’t out hunting,” the tan boy growls out. “Run away, all puppies do anyways.”Ashton isn’t stupid. Just because he was turned doesn’t mean his IQ is now that of a wolf. He pushes himself off the ground and runs away into the night.





	I See It In Your Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> I had fun writing this!

Ashton chews at his pencil nervously as the second hand on the classroom clock just ticks by. He’s making sure he isn’t putting in his newfound _super-strength_ behind his bites so he doesn’t break his pencil in half. The second hand ticks and ticks by until the bell signalling the end of the school day rings throughout the entire building. He packs his backpack the fastest he can and darts out of the classroom, not caring if he just used his super-speed this time. He wants—no, _needs_ —to be as far away from everyone as possible.

“Someone’s in a hurry,” someone’s _unwanted_ voice rings out in the clearing Ashton made the run to. It’s the only forest near his neighbourhood, and _of course_ this asshole decided to show up. “I told you, I can help you.”

“And I told you, I don’t need your help,” Ashton grits his teeth, his eyes turning amber.

“Look,” a soft thump resonates in the clearing, even though the sound isn’t that loud. Only Ashton’s newfound super-hearing would let him hear that. “I want to help you. I was a new werewolf once, like you.”

“I told you, Alex, I don’t need your fucking help,” Ashton grits out again, feeling the fur sprouting from his face. _Not the prettiest sight, I’d say._

“Such arrogance,” Alex tsks, his black combat boots scuffling the floor as he feigns a sigh. “I don’t like that there’s a rogue alpha here, biting just about anyone he pleases.”

The other werewolf is an inch or two shorter than Ashton, but has broader shoulders, and paler-than-moonlight skin, complete with iridescent eyes that are perfect half-point of grey and silver and silver-blond air.

“Too late for any precautions, ain’t it?” Ashton snarls, baring his fangs. “I was bitten and didn’t reject the bite. I’m the beta no one asked for.”

“It’s rather strange, don’t you think?” Alex’s eyes glow electric blue, the only feature that suggests he’s a werewolf like Ashton. Only difference is, Alex killed someone, hence the blue wolf eyes.

“I don’t find anything strange,” Ashton retorts, calming himself down until he can feel his normal human face. “Alphas biting humans to have his pack, doesn’t seem too out there to me.”

“He’s a rogue, Ashton. He isn’t given any territory. He’s trespassing on other’s territories and biting people who shouldn’t be his betas,” Alex rolls his eyes.

“Where’s _your_ alpha? Your eyes are blue, not red,” Ashton points out.

Alex is quick to turn around and disappear into the forest.

★★★

Ashton can _feel_ the full moon’s allure in his veins. It’s itching at him, making his senses wilder. This is only his second full moon and, well, maybe he does need that help to reign in his raging emotions, energy, and most of all, hormones. He’s a seventeen-year-old boy, right now, he doesn’t know if he wants to howl at the moon or jerk off. He’s kinda leaning in to the jerking off option, really, given it’s peaceful and quiet in the forest.

Then he hears the footsteps.

 _Just when I was gonna start wanking too! Lovely! Marvellous! Stupendous!_ He would have had more time to think up some more adjectives if not for the bullet missing him by a millimetre.

 _Silver bullet_ , Ashton could smell the toxic metal, and he starts running. He isn’t running in any direction, really. He’s changing course every few yards just to throw whoever tried to shoot him off.

 _Hunters_ , Ashton realises as he’s running. _Alex told me there are werewolf hunters before._

And he runs smack into someone’s body.

Ashton snarls, his claws raised high and they’re already moving when he realises that it’s just a boy. A boy his age with bewildered chestnut-brown eyes and messy jet-black curls, naturally-tanned skin, flattened to the ground by his weight. He isn’t fast enough with his realisation, his claws raking down the boy’s right bicep. The boy lets out an indignant huff.

“Sorry, I’m—” he stops. _I’m what? Being chased by some werewolf hunter personnel?_

“Tonight’s your lucky night, wolf, ‘cause I wasn’t out hunting,” the tan boy growls out. “Run away, all puppies do anyways.”

Ashton isn’t stupid. Just because he was turned doesn’t mean his IQ is now that of a wolf. He pushes himself off the ground and runs away into the night.

★★★

Ashton is dead-tired, and he wants to catch up on a lot of things with his best friend, Luke, so that’s already not looking in his favour. He debated about this a lot, yeah, telling his best friend that werewolves are real and he’s one of them. And no, he can’t turn his best friend into one since he’s only a beta.

It’s hard to tell his best friend that Ashton is a wolf when the said best friend is always mysteriously busy. The lanky blond has been making some excuses and lies (Ashton could hear his best friend’s heart racing as he told those lies) for last two months or so. They barely hung out anymore, save for the school hours.

Ashton decides to use his super-hearing into use, letting his senses fan out as far as it’ll go. He thinks he heard something that sounded like Luke, so he starts walking in that direction, then stops dead in tracks when he hears something disturbing.

 _“Oh, fuck, Mr. Clifford!”_ Luke is downright moaning shamelessly. _“Right there, please, Mr. Clifford!”_

_“Yeah, baby? You like it when I—”_

Ashton’s cheeks flame up faster than he’s ever felt them doing so, tuning the pair out. He knew Luke was gay, his best friend came out when they were fourteen, but hearing his best friend going at it with their new Arts teacher is a totally different thing.

He runs in the opposite direction of where the sex noises are coming from, (it’s 4 p.m., the school day ended thirty minutes ago. He’s going to strangle Luke, then ask how long this has been going on) only to bump into a body.

“Watch where the fuck you’re—oh, it’s _you_ ,” the boy hisses out.

Ashton recognises that voice. It’s the boy he ran over in the forest the other night. It’s also the voice that threatened him and called him a puppy. And yep, there’s the scratch he gave him last night.

“Aren’t you a little young to be a hunter?” Ashton growls out, albeit extending an arm to help the boy up. The tanned boy slaps the hand away, standing up on his own.

“I can hold a rifle and blow your heart into pieces, little wolf,” the hunter boy threatens. “I might watch my words if I were you.”

“I can rip your throat out before you have the chance,” Ashton snarls. “I’ve never seen you before.”

“It’s because I’m new here. I transferred today,” the hunter boy shrugs. “You must be the reason why my family got dispatched here.”

“Yeah, lucky you,” Ashton grips onto the strap of his satchel.

★★★

Ashton can’t get the thoughts of the tanned hunter boy out of his mind. It’s weird, given the boy wants nothing but to kill with him. Maybe he just wants a nice lay with the boy, nothing else. He’s come out as pansexual to his friends, and they’ve been so supportive of him. He’s not the stereotyped ‘bang everyone pansexual’, (that stereotype is fucking stupid anyways, there’s gotta be mutual attraction before anything else) but ever since becoming a werewolf, his hormones are out of control. He’s currently in his grey boxers, nothing else, and thinking about the tanned boy is making his dick harder by the second. He lets out a low growl as he sheds his boxers and starts palming at his dick, making it grow to full hardness. He grabs the lube from behind his pillows and starts stroking himself, little huffs of breaths leaving his lips. He plays with the slit with every second or third upstroke, continuing to do that until he’s over the edge and spilling all over his fist.

He hops off the bed and walks into the bathroom connected to his room, deciding it’s time he took a shower.

★★★

It’s after school, and for once, Luke isn’t busy (getting fucked by Mr. Clifford, Ashton now knows). They’re enjoying the summer sun, sitting outside at Luke’s backyard. They’re sat on the picnic sheets, just reading their assigned reading for their English classes.

“You know,” Luke starts, and Ashton quirks his eyebrows at his best friend. “There’s been a lot of reports of animal attacks lately. Random forest animals found dead and whatnot. Did we even have coyotes in Australia?”

“I don’t know, Luke,” Ashton looks back on his book, flipping a page. “But I do know something else.”

“What do you know?” Luke’s heart starts racing wildly. Ashton feels sorry for him. “Ashy, tell me.”

“Did you really think you could keep your secret from me for so long?” Ashton deadpans; Luke’s face pales more than Ashton thought possible.

“It’s all consensual, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Luke gulps, his heartbeat still erratic.

“I’m worried about him getting caught,” Ashton sighs. “He’s, what, twenty-five? You’re turning eighteen in July, I get that, but that’s seven months too far away! You really think no one’s gonna suspect anything?”

“We’ve been careful for last three months he’s been in the school faculty,” Luke groans. “How did you even find out?”

“You had your secret, I had mine,” Ashton sighs. “I’m a werewolf.”

“What?”

“I’m a werewolf, Luke,” Ashton repeats, this time making his eyes turn amber.

“How is it—”

“I was bitten by the alpha two months ago. He hasn’t claimed me, as Alex put it, but he thinks the alpha is up to something,” Ashton cuts Luke off, going off into his explanation. “And Alex is a beta from another pack.”

“I’m kinda confused but okay…” Luke tilts his head to the side. “Oh, and I invited someone from my History class to our FIFA tournament. Maybe he sucks so I can beat his ass…”

★★★

“ _You_ ,” Ashton growls out when the tanned boy shows up at Luke’s front door. “What are you doing here?”

“Down, boy,” the boy even makes the hand gesture used for dogs at him. “I’m here to hang out with Luke. When he said his best friend was gonna be here, I didn’t think that was you.”

“You can go shove your attitude up your—”

“Hi, Calum!” Luke beams at the hunter boy. _So Calum is his name…_ “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”

“Oh, we ran into each other a couple times…” Calum smirks at Ashton.

 

Two hours later, Ashton is throwing daggers at Calum as the hunter boy and his best friend chat away about Physics or something stupid.  He hates Calum with every fibre of his being. And he hates Calum even more for beating him at FIFA.

He also wants to fuck the shit out of Calum, but that’s his teenage hormones.

“We should play _Never Have I Ever_!” Calum suggests.

“That’s stupid,” Luke scoffs. “No offence.”

“No, let’s play it,” Ashton nudges at Luke’s side. “It’s a good ‘get to know each other’ game.”

“There are only three players… this is gonna end quickly,” Calum mutters.

“I’ll go first!” Ashton grins. “Never have I ever… kissed someone older!”

Luke glares at Ashton as he puts one finger down.

“Ooh, who’s the lucky gal or pal?” Calum waggles his eyebrows.

“Um, it was at a college frat party my older brothers sneaked me into,” Luke blushes. That one was not a lie. Ashton knows Jack and Ben have sneaked Luke into their frat parties before.

“Never have I ever ventured into the forest whilst it’s night!” Luke shouts in revenge. He arches surprised brow when Calum puts his finger down before Ashton does.

“I’m a troubled sleeper,” Calum shrugs.

“I was looking for my cat,” Ashton mumbles. “Found her at the end though.”

Both Luke and Calum look at him in an understanding way.

 

Thirty minutes of _Never Have I Ever_ later, Luke is declared the loser. The game turned dirty real quick, and Calum sided with Ashton against Luke, so there’s that. Luke whines to Ashton about how his best friend turned against him for some hot piece of ass. Both Ashton and Calum laugh at the blond at that statement.

“So,” Calum sidles up to Ashton when Luke goes to the front door to answer the door for pizza. “You got bitten when you were in the forest looking for your cat?”

“Why do you care?” Ashton snarls, feeling his eyes shift colours to amber.

“Before you got bitten by the rogue alpha, you were as human as I am,” Calum looks almost sympathetic. “I tried telling my father that the newly turned beta isn’t at fault, but he called me a weakling and it’s because of me Mali died.”

“Who’s Mali?”

The look on Calum’s face is a mix of tortured angst, sadness, and something else Ashton can’t identify before Luke’s footsteps are coming back towards the living room.

“Did you two kiss and make up whilst I was gone?” Luke waggles his brows as he sets the two pizza boxes down. “Don’t eat all the Hawaiians! That’s my favourite; you know this, Irwin.”

★★★

Ashton gulps as he stares at Mr. Clifford giving instructions to today’s drawing. Now that he knows his—admittedly—hot Art teacher is banging his best friend, it’s hard not to stare at the said hot teacher. He’s unwilling heard how dirty the teacher can talk, so it’s just—

“Mr. Irwin?” Mr. Clifford is right beside him. _Oh, fuck_. “Is there a problem?”

“Um, can I tell you after class?” Ashton manages a smile.

 

“You got five minutes before the next class starts,” Mr. Clifford lets the hazel-eyed boy know.

“Um…” Ashton doesn’t know how to start other than to be blunt so he just goes for it. “You and Luke…”

“Did he tell you?” Mr. Clifford arches his pierced brow.

“No… I accidentally heard you two… um…” Ashton feels his cheeks flushing.

“I should’ve been quieter,” Mr. Clifford chuckles. “Are you going to tell the school’s principal?”

“No… Luke really likes you, I don’t want to take that from him…”

★★★

Ashton wasn’t even aware, but there’s a party happening. And he got invited somehow. The kid’s parents are gone to Europe or some shit like that for a week so they decided to throw a party.

 _Typical_ , Ashton sighs, taking a sip out of his red Solo cup, barely acknowledging the poor alcohol content. He shuffles through the crowd, only stopping when he finds Calum brooding in his curling black hair and tanned skin glory.

“Ashy!” Calum giggles when he sees the werewolf. “Mm, you’re so hot…”

“And you’re so drunk,” Ashton deadpans. “And it’s Ashton, not ‘Ashy’.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you’re hot,” Calum hiccups. “I saw a room that’s empty upstairs… I wanna blow you.”

“Calum, you’re drunk,” Ashton tries to reason with the hunter boy. “Besides, you hate me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Calum huffs, his hand brushing against Ashton’s dick and okay, he’s still a teenage boy, his dick twitches at that. “My family thinks all wolves should be terminated. I don’t share the same values.”

“I’m getting you some—”

Calum’s fingers delve inside Ashton’s black briefs, his fingertips grazing the base of Ashton’s cock. He can feel it jumping to attention.

 _Fuck_.

“You’re getting hard,” Calum purrs out. “You want my mouth on you? Want me to choke on your cock?”

“I’m getting you water afterwards, got it?”

 

Calum drags Ashton to the room he’s mentioned and Ashton lets him. Once they’re inside the room, Calum giggles and flops onto the bed. Ashton locks the door and crawl on top of the tanned boy.

“Now,” Ashton feels his eyes glowing amber in the dark. “A few things when we’re in bed, metaphorically and literally.” Calum nods. “You’re going to address me as ‘daddy’.”

“Mm, should’ve known,” Calum giggles, eagerly undoing Ashton’s jeans and pushing them down alongside his briefs. “You look like the daddy type.”

Ashton opens his mouth to say something snide about it, but the words die when Calum’s tongue touches the slit on the head of his cock. All incoherent thoughts fly out of his mouth as the brown-eyed boy swirls his magical tongue around his cockhead, gathering precum in his mouth. He even dares to look up at Ashton with in a smirking gaze. Ashton wants to show dominance when Calum takes all of his cock into his mouth and fucking makes _choking_ noises, making more precum sluice from his slit. Unable to hold onto himself anymore, Ashton grabs onto Calum’s hair and starts fucking into his mouth, almost howling from the pleasure. Calum relaxes the back of his throat and makes muffled moaning sounds as Ashton uses his mouth freely. He pulls out before his orgasm builds up too much and pushes Calum onto his stomach.

“Shut up,” Ashton growls in an animalistic way. His words come out in a guttural way. “You came to me to get fucked, yeah? You get your wish.”

Lust-stricken brown eyes stare up at Ashton, the owner’s lips slick from spit and precum. Calum nods and gets on all-four, but not before ridding himself of his Green Day band tee.  Ashton starts kissing at the top of Calum’s spine until he’s reached the waistband of the tanned boy’s basketball shorts. He tugs them down, and to his surprise, Calum isn’t wearing anything under the shorts.

“Naughty boy,” Ashton growls out, parting Calum’s asscheeks and licking from his balls to his asscrack. He repeats the process until Calum is a whining mess underneath him. “Got any lube?”

Calum points at his shorts and Ashton digs out a packet of lube. He uses roughly half the content to slick is fingers and starts prepping Calum. Only when Calum moans like he’s about to come does Ashton pull his fingers out, using the remainder of the lube on his cock.

“Fuck,” Calum groans out when only head of Ashton’s cock is sheathed by the warm tightness. “Mm, daddy’s surely larger than anyone I’ve been with, that’s for sure.”

In effort to shut Calum up, Ashton slams rest of his way in, not a single warning uttered in advance. He places a hand between Calum’s shoulder blades and starts thrusting into him, making the hunter moan endlessly. It doesn’t take long for Calum to reach his high, walls clenching around Ashton’s pistoning cock unceremoniously, but Ashton isn’t done with his hunter boy.

“You think daddy’s done with you, baby girl?” Calum’s cock jumps back to attention at Ashton’s pet name for him. Ashton flips Calum onto his back like he’s a ragdoll before he slings his legs over his own shoulders and grips the boy by his thighs. He thrusts back in with one smooth stroke, and thrusts into the angle he thought was Calum’s prostate’s location with all the strength he’s got. Calum moans brokenly, his cock leaking steadily.

“Look at you, so desperate for my cock,” Ashton croons, aiming for the same angle as he feels his release building up. Calum lets out a mantra of ‘please’ as Ashton growls, jackrabbiting into Calum’s prostate until Calum comes all over his stomach again.

“Fill me up, daddy,” Calum whispers, and okay, Ashton is only a teenage boy. He thrusts once, twice, three more times before he spills inside Calum’s hole.

“Mm, fuck!” Calum mewls out. “Thought knotting was only a myth.”

 _Knotting_? “What?” is the intelligent thing coming out of his mouth.

“Your dick grew in girth because you came inside my ass, daddy,” Calum huffs out.

Ashton tries to pull out to examine his dick himself, but he can’t. _The fuck_?

“Oh yeah, the whole purpose of knotting in werewolves is to secure their sperm inside their—” Calum stops mid-sentence. “Your dick better shrink before too long, because my family’s gonna kill me.”

★★★

Needless to say, Ashton short-lived sexcapade ended as soon as his dick was softened. Calum kept muttering in a language Ashton didn’t understand, but he let the other boy just keep… muttering in a language he didn’t understand as they both got dressed and rushed back to the party scene.

“Ashton!” Luke giggles, clearly wasted, if the Solo cup in his hand didn’t indicate the boy’s been drinking. “This cute boy gave me his number! I think he wants to hook up with me!”

“Aren’t you with Mr. Clifford?” Ashton hisses out.

“Oh yeah, but what if we do a threesome?”

Then Luke goes limp, and Ashton catches his best friend before he hits the floor.

★★★

“I have a killer head-fucking-ache,” Luke groans as he trudges downstairs from Ashton’s room. All of the Irwins—Ashton, Harry, Lauren, and their mum—scoff at that.

“Language, Luke,” Ashton’s mum adds.

“Gosh, mum, I’m twelve, we say ‘fuck’ in my age,” Harry groans.

“My babies—that includes you, Luke, don’t roll your eyes at me—aren’t allowed to swear under my roof,” she continues. “By the way, Ash, did you know that we had new neighbours? They live at the end of the street, but they said hello to me when I was getting the mail so I thought I’d invite them over for dinner.”

“Oh, nice heads-up, mum. I’ll just kick Luke out before dinner then,” Ashton replies.

“Hey!”

 

Hours pass by and it’s time for dinner with this new family who moved into his neighbourhood. Ashton is hoping the neighbours have a son who’s hot as fuck and willing to fall in love with him.  Like promised, Ashton ‘kicks’ Luke out of the house before the dinner. Luke gives him the finger on his way out, but not before he ‘borrows’ some of Ashton’s Xbox games.

“They’re here!” Ashton’s mum squeals in excitement when the doorbell rings. Ashton tries to comb his fingers through his hair when he detects a scent that’s all-too-familiar.

“Hi!” Calum beams as he walks through the door with a cake in his hands, his parents looking displeased by Ashton’s appearance. They’re quick to disguise the displeasure with a smile.

“You must be the son Joy and David talked about so much!” his mum seems to be oblivious to the tension between his son and the hunters. “Do you go to the same school as Ashton?”

“Oh, we ran into each other a couple times,” Calum winks at Ashton, making the werewolf snarl the hunter boy.

 

The dinner goes surprisingly well, and Ashton’s mum sends him and Calum to his room, and Harry and Lauren to their separate rooms as they wait for dessert.

“I was drunk that night, little puppy,” Calum hisses out as soon as they’re in the privacy of Ashton’s room. “I was just horny and you were there.”

“No, you were specifically looking for me,” Ashton snarls, letting his eyes shift colours to amber. “You weren’t looking for a random fuck, you wanted to be fucked by _me_.”

“Getting possessive, aren’t we?” Calum muses, their noses barely an inch apart and fuck, Ashton wants to kiss Calum.

And he does.

And Calum isn’t pulling away. If anything, Calum moves his lips against Ashton’s, groaning into their kiss. Ashton slams Calum’s back against a wall as they continue to make out, his hand on Calum’s shapely ass. Calum lets out a whine this time, and Ashton can feel the other’s excitement growing against his thigh.

“Your mouth says you hate me, but your dick says otherwise,” Ashton whispers into Calum’s ear, nipping at the shell of it. Calum whines again, his semi pressing into Ashton’s thigh. “Off with your clothes, baby.”

“I’m not gonna be fucked by you again,” Calum mumbles unconvincingly.

“Mm, better be naked when I’m back with lube,” Ashton says in an authoritative tone before he leaves to snatch his lube from behind his pillows, losing his clothes on the way. To his delight, Calum is completely nude when he turns around, making his wolf side surface.

“Daddy likes what he sees?” Calum bats his eyes in an innocent way. His tanned hand is wrapped around his leaking cock, the tip red and glistening.

“Daddy like what he sees a lot,” Ashton agrees, slicking his fingers up with lube. He pats at Calum’s thighs to part them before sliding one finger inside the hunter boy. The human keens when Ashton’s fingertip brushes against something bumpy, and he smirks as he adds another finger and jabs at the same spot. By the time Ashton is three fingers deep inside Calum’s walls, the brown boy is begging for his cock.

“Such a needy baby,” Ashton croons, retrieving his lube to apply the minimal amount on his cock and wraps one of Calum’s legs around his waist just as he drives into the tight heat, making Calum gasp. “You like my cock so much, you don’t care that I’m something you hunt, yeah?” He doesn’t give any chance for Calum to reply as he rams into Calum’s prostate forcibly, not caring that he could literally break the other boy since he isn’t being careful with his strength right now.

“Fuck! Better than anyone else I’ve been, daddy!” Calum mewls out, pleasure abundant in his words. “Fuck, harder, please!”

And Ashton is only a hormone-filled teenage boy, how could he resist that request? His grip on Calum’s thighs tighten as he thrusts harder and faster into Calum’s prostate, making him basically scream. Not wanting anyone to hear the sound, Ashton covers Calum’s soft lips with his own, swallowing his screams. The hunter boy is a moaning, writhing mess, and maybe Ashton is imagining it, or maybe he really did smell it, but nonetheless, he gets alerted before Calum lets out that adorable sound letting Ashton know he was coming, coating their lower stomachs. And from his other experience, Ashton guesses he’s gonna ‘knot’ Calum again, so he continues to thrust into Calum’s quivering walls until he comes. This time, he feels the base of his cock thickening more than he thought possible, making it hard to pull out. He’s feeling oversensitive from having constant pressure around his dick after he came, but he can’t do much about it, so he just pants into Calum’s mouth.

“Do you ask every male wolf you come around to knot your pretty hole?” Ashton growls, his eyes burning amber after his knot goes down and pulls his clothes back on, sans any underwear.

“No, I just feel this weird… vibe from you,” Calum admits, huffing as he gets dressed himself. “My hunter’s morale tells me I should kill you, but something else is keeping me from it…”

“I’m a new wolf, I haven’t attacked a human, never mind killed,” Ashton vaguely remembers Alex telling him about the Hunter’s Code— _We hunt those who hunt us_ , or somewhere along that line.

“But you will out of survival,” Calum’s warm brown eyes turn cold. “Sooner or later, you’ll kill one of us in survival.”

“Why was your family hunting me that night in the forest? I’m innocent,” Ashton snarls, his fangs elongating and his fur sprouting.

“We were looking for another and we thought you were that wolf,” Calum doesn’t look so apologetic.

“What about—”

“Come back for dessert, everyone!” Ashton’s mum cuts him off, and he decides he’ll have the conversation with Calum later.

 

Dessert time went well, the tiramisu was favoured by everyone. ( _“Do I look like I was just fucked?”_ Calum asked on their way back to the dining room. _“I_ did _just fuck you so yes,”_ was Ashton’s brilliant reply.) Now, Ashton’s mum and Calum’s parents are drinking wine with some cheese, so Ashton ushers Calum and his siblings back upstairs.

“My, my, you want round two?” Calum teases Ashton as the teen werewolf basically throws Calum against the wall. “You can ask nicely.”

“Why were your parents to keen on hunting down a wolf that night?” Ashton growls, his hand wrapped around Calum’s throat, claws elongated.

“It’s none of your business!” Calum scratches at Ashton’s hand, but they both know it’s futile. Ashton is far stronger than Calum can be.

“It _is_ my business when people shoot silver bullets at my throat!” Ashton snarls, this time his transformation complete. He doesn’t need to look in the mirror to know that he has fur on his face practically everywhere. Calum doesn’t look so alarmed.

“I’ve hunted and killed badder wolves than you, Irwin,” Calum lets out a small ‘heh’ sound. “Just because you show me your wolf face doesn’t mean I’ll tell you everything.”

So, Ashton tries something different. He takes slow breaths until his face is back to normal and leans his face in. The hunter boy gulps, and Ashton didn’t have to use his super-hearing to hear that. When Calum doesn’t say anything, he presses their lips together. This time, Calum turns his head away.

“You can’t do that,” he protests weakly. Ashton can hear the accelerated heartbeats racing in Calum’s body. “You can’t manipulate me like that.”

“I’m just kissing you,” Ashton hums, their noses brushing. “Just kissing.”

“You’re kissing me to get information out of me,” Calum growls.

And oh-so-conveniently, Calum’s mum calls the brown boy to go back to their house.

★★★

“Ugh,” Ashton groans as he slides next to Luke for their shared English class. His best friend gives him a judgemental look.

“You’re not the one who got fucked into—”

“Luke Robert Hemmings, I do not need to know you get fucked in the ass by someone older,” Ashton shivers at the memory of hearing Luke and Mr. Clifford going at it.

“He invited me to his house this time,” Luke blushes as he confesses. “You know how my parents are almost always on business trips and it’s Ben and Jack taking care of me. I just told Ben I was going over to your place and he didn’t question it.”

“Don’t you have someone else whose house you can go to?” Ashton curses under his breath when he sees a familiar tanned boy walking into the classroom. Luke raises a brow before he recognises Calum as well.

“Do you have a problem with Calum?” Luke arches his eyebrows at Ashton. “I’ve known you all my life, Ashton Fletcher Irwin, I know how you act like when you wanna bone someone.”

“I do not want to bone Calum,” Ashton whisper-growls at Luke just as Calum sits next to him, but at a different desk.

“Oh, so you don’t wanna bone me?” Calum asks with wiggling of his eyebrows just as the teacher walks into the room and silences the class.

 

The English class went okay in Ashton’s opinion. He gets out of the classroom as fast as he can, far away from Calum, if possible. But alas, the hunter catches him by his sleeve. He wonders briefly if he’s going to get detention for trying to maul Calum ‘mildly’.

“What do you want?” Ashton growls, careful not to exhibit any of his wolf features when there are so many people flocking them in the hallway.

“I’m hurt you tell your best friend that you don’t want to bone me when you fucked me into the mattress once, and into the wall the other time already,” Calum’s voice is calm, but Ashton can sense the irritation itching under it. “What, my ass isn’t good enough for you?”

“I can fuck anyone I want, just not you again,” Ashton snarls, shaking his sleeve free from Calum’s grip.

He thinks he’s imagining the stare following him as he walks to his Arts class.

★★★

“You know, you really shouldn’t stalk people, that’s rude,” Calum calls out right before he opens his front door, letting Ashton know he knew he was being followed.

“How’d you figure?” Ashton growls. “I made sure my footsteps weren’t heard and everything.”

“I’m a hunter, it’s Hunting 101 to learn how to figure out when I’m being followed,” Calum shrugs. “My parents are out tracking the rogue alpha, you can come in.”

Ashton can smell the odour of silver heavy in the air the moment he steps inside the room. It’s weird, silver didn’t do anything to him when he was human, and now he can’t wear the cheap 925 silver necklaces or rings anymore. He’s switched over to stainless steel like Alex advised him. He detects something else, an herb or something, that makes his sense go nuts.

“That’s wolfsbane,” Calum’s lips curl into a smirk. “Deadly to your kind.”

“What do you do with wolfsbane?” Ashton is a curious soul.

“Put it inside the silver bullet so when the silver melts against your skin, the toxins of wolfbane will spread through your body,” Calum tells Ashton like it’s no big deal. “I have nothing to lose by telling you either. Someone was bound to tell you.”

“Thanks for the info, I really needed it,” Ashton growls as he follows Calum upstairs. And no, his eyes were not on Calum’s perfectly formed ass as he followed the owner of the said ass like a lost puppy.

Calum’s room is neater than Ashton expected. He just assumed it’d be messy like any other teenage boy’s room. (He practically lives in Luke’s room, he knows how messy his best friend is. He found a few used condoms too, and now that he thinks about it, those were probably used by Mr. Clifford for their bedroom activities.) There are books displayed on three short bookshelves in an organised way. It’s by series and authors, Ashton notes.

“Stop ogling my bookshelf, gosh,” Calum jokes as he sits on the edge of his queen-sized mattress and pats at the spot next to him. Ashton sits as far away from Calum as possible.

“Why did you let me in?” Ashton is curious.

“‘Cause I know you’re not the wolf who killed Mali,” Calum deadpans. “Offense intended, but you’re too clumsy and rookie of a werewolf to kill someone as skilled as my sister was.”

“Mali was your sister who got killed by…”

“Mali-Koa Hood… the bravest hunter my family has ever seen…” Ashton sees the wetness forming in Calum’s eyes. Instinctively, he reaches out to brush the tears away. Calum leans into the touch, sniffling noises still coming from him. “It wasn’t the rogue alpha who killed her… it was just a beta who wanted to kill for fun… alphas… their marks are a little bit different from a beta’s when they scratch someone for the kill.”

“I’m so sorry—”

“It was still one of your kind who took my sister away! She’s dead, Ashton! She’s dead because of a werewolf!” Calum sobs out, anger and hatred burning in his eyes. Calum punches at Ashton’s chest weakly and he lets the other boy.

“If I could have stopped your sister from being killed… if I was turned earlier and knew about your familiar before… I would have stopped your sister’s death with everything I got,” Ashton tells Calum.

“Why?”

“Because,” Ashton curls a finger under Calum’s chin, hearing the hunter boy’s breathing hitching. “I feel the same vibe you do.”

Their kiss is slow and filled with curious passion, and Ashton ends up on his back, with Calum’s thick thighs caressing his waist. He continues kissing Calum, his hands moving down to cup the hunter boy’s ass, like they belong there. Calum lets out a moan that sounds like he’s okay with the ass-grabbing. Ashton growls possessively, moving Calum’s ass against his hardening cock. He pulls away from the kiss long enough to discard his shirt, Calum soon following his action. Not even ten minutes later, they’re both naked and rutting their cocks together in a desperate way, needing the friction.

“Nightstand drawer,” Calum whispers as they both pant.  Ashton reaches for the drawer and takes out a bottle of lube. He takes a mental note that it’s strawberry flavoured and doesn’t ask anything about it. He slicks his fingers when Calum shakes his head. “Just wanna feel you… daddy.”

And okay, Ashton can’t say no to that. He squeezes a generous amount of lube on his dick and spreads it on it. He grabs onto Calum’s inner thigh with one hand and the base of his cock with the other, letting Calum take his own pace with it this time. The brown boy is slow to sink down on Ashton, making him growl once his cock is sheathed by the tight heat. Calum lets out a whine, presumably from the stretch without being prepped. Calum grabs Ashton’s hand that is now free just to start suckling on his middle and index fingers, letting out the softest ‘ah’ and ‘uh’ as he slowly grinds his hips in circles. Ashton gets impatient and rolls his hips up once, twice, before Calum gets the hint and starts to bounce on him. Ashton moans at the sight of Calum’s cock bouncing as he moves. Soon, he feels the telltale sign of Calum’s approaching climax in form of walls clenching tighter around him and that scent he’ll never get out of his memory.

“Come for daddy, baby,” Ashton whispers, and with an abandoned cry of pleasure, Calum releases in streams. Ashton fucks up into Calum’s quivering walls before his knot spans out.

“I think I’m starting to fall in love with you, is that too weird?” Calum asks Ashton, brushing a stray strand of curl out of Ashton’s eye as they wait for Ashton’s knot to go down.

“No,” Ashton kisses the top of Calum’s head. “‘Cause I’m starting to fall in love with you too.”

★★★

Ashton wakes up hours later, spooned up to Calum’s back. The hunter boy mumbles something in his sleep, and words sound like they’re some language Ashton doesn’t know. Part of him wonders if that’s the same language Calum spoke in at that party.

“Calum, wake up,” Ashton shakes Calum’s shoulders. “It’s, like, 5 p.m.”

“Mm, I wanna sleep more, daddy…” Calum swats in Ashton’s direction.

“Well, I’m hungry, and I was just gonna go to Macca’s for dinner,” Ashton smacks Calum’s ass in better effort to wake the black-haired beauty up.

“Hey!” there’s a whine to Calum’s voice. “Didn’t have to go all rough on me… can’t you just eat my ass out and call it a meal?”

“As tempting as that sounds, your ass has no nutritional value,” Ashton scoffs. “C’mon, I’ll buy you something too.”

“You should’ve started with that,” Calum bolts upright rather quickly.

 

Twenty minutes later, they’ve walked to the nearest McDonald’s they could find and Ashton is munching on his Big Mac, large fries, large strawberry milkshake, _and_ 6-piece McNuggets while Calum eats his two McWraps, large fries, and large coke.

“You sure are eating a lot,” Calum teases Ashton.

“Shut up, you’re having two McWraps,” Ashton points out.

“They’re both small,” Calum defends himself.

“We’re both growing teenage boys, we should eat a lot anyways,” Ashton states in a fond tone. “Didn’t you say your parents are out on a hunting mission or something?”

“They wouldn’t mind that I went out for dinner with a friend,” Calum shrugs.

“They _would_ mind if they find out that friend is a werewolf,” Ashton points out. Then he suddenly remembers. “Didn’t you say something about the purpose of knotting when we first hooked up?”

Calum looks uncomfortable.

“We can talk about it some other time,” Calum promises, then takes a bite out of his second wrap.

 

Ashton kisses Calum goodnight at his porch, making sure they both didn’t make any squeaking noises as they stepped across the wooden boards, and quickly speeds away from the house until he’s at his own.

 _Why is Calum hesitant to talk about something I really want to know about?_ is the last thought on Ashton’s mind before he drifts off to sleep.

★★★

Ashton is out in the clearing in the forest when he catches the scent of Alex. It’s been two weeks since he last saw the other beta, and he isn’t too pleased to see him again.

“What are you doing here?” Ashton is getting better with controlling his wolf side, even when a random entity like Alex shows up.

“I live in the surrounding neighbourhood too, you know,” Alex looks smug. “And you let yourself be followed.”

Ashton turns around and Alex already whirled around to have Calum by his throat, his claws extended against the hunter boy’s jugular.

“Don’t hurt him!” Ashton growls, his calmness gone, replaced by cold anger and being pissed off.

“Ooh, someone’s getting defensive over a fucking hunter,” Alex growls, his eyes blue, fur sprouted on his face. “I wonder why you’d defend a hunter when you know who he is. Is he a good fuck? Is that it? I smell you on him… faint, but still can.”

“He isn’t just a good fuck, don’t degrade him like that,” Ashton growls back, his claws ready to strike. He knows better than to charge blindly. Alex is an older, seasoned werewolf when Ashton still trips over his feet sometimes.

“I’m sorry,” Calum squeaks out. “I should’ve brought my weapon with me… should’ve known there’s another werewolf…”

“Oh, the naïvété of humans…” Alex sounds bored. “I should just kill you.”

“Don’t fucking kill my mate!” Ashton snarls and lunges at Alex. Mid-lunge, he realises he just claimed Calum as his mate, when he doesn’t even know what the word means. At least, not fully. The word just squeezed itself out of his mouth.

He manages to knock Calum out of Alex’s hold and score his claws down the older beta’s chest. Alex doesn’t seem fazed by the blood dripping from the fresh wound. Ashton snarls and tries to score again when Alex’s strong arms stop him.

“Amazing, I could only suspect the reason why you’d be so protective of a human, never mind a hunter but you’re his mate? Oh boy, this is nothing but trouble for both of you. I feel like Ashton’s going to find a way to castrate me so adios, kids.”

Alex is gone within a second, and Calum looks at Ashton with wide eyes. Since the summer just began, Calum is wearing a sleeveless Metallica shirt, and the claw marks Ashton gave him on their first encounter is visible.

“It’s not gonna heal faster just because you’re staring at it,” Calum laughs weakly.

“I said that we’re mates,” Ashton changes the topic. “I know that was me claiming you, but I don’t know what that means.”

“You know what mates mean in animals, right?” Ashton nods. “It’s basically the same. Partners for life.”

Ashton blinks as Calum walks towards him, until their close enough to hold hands and lace their fingers together. He smiles at Calum and they’re both leaning in until their lips are locked together.

“That was brave of you, going against an older beta like that,” Calum smiles against Ashton’s lips. “He could have ripped your arm off for cohorting with a hunter like me.”

“We’re mates,” Ashton kisses Calum’s cheek. “We’re partners for life.”

★★★

Needless to say, Luke is the only person Ashton tells about his relationship status with Calum. They omit the fact that Calum is a hunter, but Ashton thinks that’s irrelevant.

“Aw, Ashy!” Luke coos and Ashton ducks as Luke tries to ruffle his hair. “You’re gonna have Cali for rest of your life! Am I your best man? I’d better be your best man, I’ve been your friend since kindergarten.”

“I’m sorry, I personally think he was dropped on the head as an infant,” Ashton apologises in Luke’s stead. Calum laughs at it as Luke yells at him.

“So, what are you guys gonna do now?” Luke quips in, his head poking out of the blankets he’s been cuddling with.

“What do you mean, ‘what are you guys gonna do now?’” Calum arches his brows at Luke.

“I’ve seen a lot movies, werewolf and human romances have lots of obstacles. Ooh, how does sex work for you? Do you guys always do it _doggy style_?” Luke waggles his brows.

“Like I said, he was dropped on his head,” Ashton apologises again.

“Probably not gonna tell my parents,” Calum mutters under his breath. Thankfully, Luke doesn’t catch that, busy whining about he’s perfectly normal.

“So, are we gonna order pizza and pretend to do the Algebra homework Mr. Danes gave us?” Ashton decides to change the subject.

 

Thirty minutes pass by and Luke’s phone interrupts the silence by beeping loudly. Luke’s cheeks flame up when he sees what’s sent to him. Ashton takes a wild guess that it was Mr. Clifford, probably a dirty sext.

“Luke, why’re you so flustered?” Calum chirps, noticing the blond’s aflame cheeks as well. “Did your crush text you or something?”

“Um, yeah… he wants me to come over…” Luke’s cheeks flush to a shade of red that can’t be healthy for anyone. “I told him I’m working on Maths homework with my friends.”

“I’m so glad you sorted out your priorities,” Ashton tackles unnecessarily into Luke and gives him a hug. “You’d better not be sexting him now though.”

Luke flashes him a guilty look.

“Calum, wanna come back to my place? My mum’s coming home late,” Ashton decides now’s the nest cue to leave.

Luke wolf-whistles as Ashton and Calum take their walk to Ashton’s house. He knows that Harry has a football practice and Lauren said she was going on a field trip with her Drama class.

Calum basically jumps onto him as soon as they’re inside the house, their lips attaching simultaneously. They’re both gasping for breath by the time Ashton has carried Calum to his room. He drops Calum onto his bed gracelessly, his body soon bracketing the tanned boy’s. They get out of their clothes in a hurried manner, and Calum starts begging for Ashton’s cock when he prods his lubed fingertips against the fluttering hole. Calum starts begging more desperately as Ashton jabs at his prostate with his fingers. Ashton continues to finger Calum until his mate comes with a choked cry of his name.

“Fuck,” Calum breathes out, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “Fuck, that was so—what’re you doing?” He asks when Ashton’s large hand wraps around his dick.

“You think I’m really done with you?” Ashton rasps out, knowing his eyes are glowing in an amber glow. He can smell the arousal thick in the air and he isn’t talking about his own. “Your cock is filling up again, isn’t that nice? I just made you come and you’re still eager for me to fuck you.”

“Pl-please…” Calum stammers, his cock trapped between his body and Ashton’s own as Ashton wraps Calum’s legs around his waist, his cockhead positioned at Calum’s puffy hole.

“Use your words, baby,” Ashton leans down to whisper in his mate’s ear, garnering a moan.

“Fuck me,” Calum mewls out. “Fuck me like you mean it.”

Ashton complies by slowly pushes his cock inside of Calum’s hole. The boy beneath him gasps as Ashton fills him up all the way to the hilt.

“Always feels so good…” Calum whines out, his walls clenching around Ashton’s cock. “Fuck, so deep.”

“No need to fuel my dick’s ego when I already know,” Ashton winks at his mate as the said mate punches him lightly on the bicep. “Baby, you might wanna think again if you think you can hit daddy like that.”

Calum looks at him in a puzzled way before Ashton starts driving into his prostate dead-on, with all his wolf strength behind it. His mate looks like he’s far too gone, coming not even three minutes later. Ashton continues to thrust into Calum’s prostate, getting him hard again.

“I think you have a _huge_ thing for overstimulation, baby,” Ashton growls out, eyes amber, fangs elongated.

Calum’s only response is a sob, tears streaming down his face.

“Use your words, baby,” Ashton growls out, pointedly giving a particularly harsh thrust into Calum’s prostate.

“Your-your cock is stretching me so good, daddy…” Calum sobs out, the scent of arousal thickening in the air. “I’m so turned on…”

Next time Calum comes, Ashton does too, bodies stuck together as his knot expands. This time, as Ashton kisses at Calum’s neck and shoulder waiting for his knot to go down, he gets hit by an unrelenting urge to bite Calum’s neck. He knows he’s fully shifted right now—fur framing his face, eyes amber, fangs protruding and claws extended. Calum seems to have noticed that too, his eyes on Ashton’s claws. He remembers that he accidentally scratched Calum’s bicep with his claws, but his mate’s eyes seem to be more focused on his fangs. Before Ashton can decipher what’s happening, his head is diving and his fangs sinking into Calum’s neck. Calum lets out a moan.

“What was that?” Calum asks, apparently not knowledgeable of this werewolf action.

“A claiming bite,” the words just come to Ashton’s mind, even though no one ever spoke about it around him. “I, um, properly claimed you as my mate.”

“Sweet, does it mean other werewolves can smell you on me?” Calum tilt his head to the side.

“Can we wait for my knot to go down before we have this discussion?”

 

A pouty Calum and ten minutes later, they get into the shower stall and wash their bodies off. Calum insists that he washes Ashton’s hair so he lets him. They both dry their bodies off and climb into Ashton’s bed naked.

“So, what’s the benefits of that claiming bite?” Calum asks after borrowing into the covers.

“For one,” Ashton copies and snuggles against Calum. “The other wolves won’t touch you ‘cause you belong with me. My mate.”

“And?”

“And you have a nice ass,” Ashton smacks Calum’s ass when he gets the chance.

“I was born with great genes, thanks for noticing,” Calum huffs.

★★★

Sunlight streams through the blinds as Ashton blinks away his sleep. He has a sleeping Calum in his arms, snoring lightly. He chuckles and presses a kiss to Calum’s temple. They’re both still very naked, and his dick is getting excited from being so close to Calum’s ass.

 _And tonight’s my third full moon_ , Ashton realises. _It’s been one full moon since I met Calum, wow._

“It’s hard to sleep when your dick is poking me,” Calum’s sleepy voice brings him out of the reverie. “Morning, Ashy.”

“My dick is not poking you,” Ashton tries to give his best puppy dog eyes to Calum, hoping his newfound status as a werewolf improved his skills.

“As cute as your puppy dog eyes are, Ashy, I can literally feel your dick poking into my ass,” Calum giggles, finally turning around to press a kiss to Ashton’s nose.

“Well, wanna have kinky morning sex then?” Ashton asks, unabashed.

“As much as I want the kinky morning sex,” Calum giggles again. “I gotta go pee.”

Ashton pins Calum to the mattress the moment Calum comes back from his bathroom. He growls as he presses his lips to Calum’s, grinding their hardened cocks together. Calum starts panting when Ashton kisses down from Calum’s neck to his stomach, and lower until his lips are pressed to the upper thigh area close to Calum’s hole. Hearing the hitching of Calum’s breath, Ashton darts his tongue out, circling his mate’s hole with the tip of his tongue until all he can hear is Calum whimpering, and all he can smell is the thick arousal from Calum. He pushes his tongue in and wraps his hand around Calum’s cock, licking his walls out and slowly stroking his walls until Calum spurts all over his hand.

“Mm, that was fun,” Ashton growls out, his wolf side showing up like whenever he is with Calum.

“I’m not—Ashton, what are you doing?” Calum looks confused when Ashton wraps his mate’s legs around his waist.

“Mm, I believe I can make you come again,” Ashton rasps out, and bingo, Calum’s cock twitches in interest, slowly chubbing up.

“Mm, daddy…” Calum mewls out, soon turning into a moaning mess when Ashton enters his hole. Ashton builds up a fast pace and growls out possessively when they both come in unison.

“God, I love you,” Ashton growls out, kissing the spot he bit when he claimed Calum.

“I love you too, my wolf,” Calum says in a post-coital drowsy tone.

“Boys, come downstairs and have your breakfasts already!” Ashton’s mum’s voice rings out to disrupt their peace.

★★★

Calum goes back to his house after having breakfast and Ashton decides to go to the clearing. He doesn’t know why he’s so sentimental about this place. This is the place he got bitten and met Calum. Well, kinda technically with Calum, since he bumped into his mate at the edge of the clearing, but those are minor details.

“Your mate looks exquisite, don’t you think?” Alex’s unwanted voice rings out.

“I don’t like you,” Ashton growls out. “Why are you always without your pack mates?”

“Oh… reasons…” Alex shrugs.

“Why are you here?”

“Full of questions, aren’t you?” Alex arches a brow. “You shouldn’t be alone, without a pack when some hunters are looking for whoever killed their member…”

“How do you know about Mali’s death?” Ashton asks, until realisation strikes him hard. “You’re the beta who killed Mali.”

“I’m not a beta, Ashton,” Alex smirks at him. “I’m an omega.”

“I don’t know all the wolf terminology, don’t test my patience,” Ashton growls, surprisingly still in his human form.

“I don’t have a pack, Ashton,” Alex sighs. “The Hood family decimated my pack, so I killed one of their members in return.”

“You’re my sister’s murderer?”

Ashton turns around to see his mate standing in the clearing, his body trembling with anger. He rushes to Calum’s side and holds onto his waist just as he tries to attack Alex without any weapons.

“He killed my sister! Let me go, Ashton!” Calum screeches, struggling in Ashton’s hold.

“Yes, let your mate go, Ashton, I want to have some fun,” Alex jeers.

“I don’t want to lose you, Calum,” Ashton hisses. “He can kill you in a second, especially when you’re unarmed.”

“I can strangle him with my own hands if I have to,” Calum hisses back, eyes watering up.

“Aw, is someone sad that I killed his sister?” Alex sneers in a clearly mocking tone. “She was a pretty thing, too young to die, but I was pissed off. Give what you take, I guess?”

“You’re a sick wolf,” Ashton growls at the omega. “I suggest you leave before I let Calum go and finish you myself.”

“Oh, I look forward to our next meeting, Ashton,” Alex winks at Ashton before disappearing.

“You followed me,” Ashton turns towards his mate. “Why did you follow me?”

“I had a feeling I had to come,” Calum’s heart starts to race. Ashton can hear it thudding.

“I’ve been coming to this place ever since I turned,” Ashton confesses. “Also, this is where I spend my full moon nights.”

“Tonight’s a full moon,” Calum whispers.

“Yeah…” Ashton clears his throat. “I’m just gonna stay at the clearing for rest of today… and through tonight, I guess.”

★★★

The moon rises and Ashton can feel the surge of animalistic instincts overriding his usual human rationale. He has Calum’s body next to his, the presence calming him to a degree. Calum’s lean fingers brushing through his hair just… has an effect he can’t describe.

“Don’t worry, my _wuruhi_ ,” Calum presses a kiss to Ashton’s temple. “I’m here for you.”

“it’s just that… everything intensifies when it’s full moon,” Ashton tries to explain. “Like, they got heightened when I was turned, but full moon just makes everything feel like a havoc.”

“What’s really on your mind right now?” Calum prompts.

“I wanna pin you against a tree and fuck you until you can’t come anymore,” Ashton growls out, eyes glowing amber in the darkness.

Ashton cups Calum’s wrists when his mate’s hands come up to cup his face, his thumbs resting under his eyes. He leans in to te touch, their eyes locked.

“ _Aroha ahau ki a koe,_ remember that,” Calum speaks the foreign language he’s heard a few times now, but this phrase, he doesn’t have to guess what he said. His _heart_ knows what Calum meant in his words.

“I know you’re trying to calm me down and shit, baby, but this is only my third full moon. I’m still very new at this kinda shit.”

Calum grins and dips his head forward, connecting their lips in a sweet kiss. Ashton wants to growls and he’s pretty sure he did. If being a werewolf changed anything from who he used to be, it’s the level of possessiveness and protectiveness.

He wasn’t possessive of anyone, not even Luke, who’s been his best friend since too long ago. Now, if any did anything as far as _looking_ in Calum’s direction, he’d rip their heart out with his claws. And he wants to protect Calum from every harm out there.

“Ashy?” Calum whispers against his lips. Ashton figures he forgot to kiss back for a few seconds.

“I love you too,” Ashton whispers, pecking Calum’s lips.

They just make out until the moon sets and the sun rises.

★★★

Ashton wakes up with an armful of Calum, the sunlight obnoxiously bright in the clearing. He growls and just stays lying on the ground as he looks at Calum’s sleeping form. He just keeps falling more and more in love with Calum with each passing day.  

“If you stare any harder, I think my skin if gonna burn off my face,” Calum giggles, startling Ashton. “Morning, daddy.”

“Unless you want kinky morning forest sex, I suggest you quit calling me ‘daddy’ so damn early in the morning,” Ashton growls playfully.

“My wolf is insatiable,” Calum giggles again, pressing a sloppy kiss to Ashton’s jaw. “We should probably go back to our houses. Or at least go to Luke’s so our parents don’t think about something suspicious.”

 

They walk back to the civilisation, and they head straight towards Luke’s house. Well, they use the secret ladder Luke has to climb up to his bedroom window.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Luke jumps when Ashton pokes his head through the window.

“Just Ashton is fine—”

Mr. Clifford looks guilty as fuck, sitting in nothing but what Ashton presumes to be Luke’s clean boxers. His hair is messy, like someone just tugged at it during—

“I wasn’t expecting any company!” Luke tries to defend himself, just as Calum climbs through the window.

“Hey, noodle, I was wondering—what the fuck is Mr. Clifford doing naked in your bed?!”

“Mr. Hood,” Mr. Clifford looks surprisingly in charge for someone who just got caught in his underage student’s bed. “Lovely to see you.”

“You knew already,” Calum states, but it’s a question, Ashton isn’t a real wolf. Just a _were_ wolf.

“I overheard them fucking,” Ashton puts it bluntly.

“Language, Mr. Irwin,” Mr. Clifford warns.

“This is illegal,” Calum states.

“I know—we know,” Mr. Clifford sighs. “But you don’t choose who you fall in love with.” He presses a chaste kiss to Luke’s flaming cheek.

“As long as he doesn’t hurt you and makes you happy…” Calum trails off.

“Only time he’s hurt me was when he made me come—”

Mr. Clifford is quick to clamp his hand over Luke’s mouth.

 

“My parents are out of town, and Ben and Jack are away, staying over at their girlfriends’,” Luke explains as the four of them trudge to the kitchen and get some cereal to munch on. Calum calls dibs on the _Count Chocula_ , making Mr. Clifford scowl at that. “We were just gonna have a sex marathon all day until you two showed up.”

“Oh, please, don’t mind us,” Ashton sneers in his most offensive, mocking tone. “We’ll just have sex louder than you two.”

“Impossible,” Mr. Clifford quips in. “Luke is the loudest when he comes that I ever slept with.”

Luke is quick to huff and elbow Mr. Clifford in the ribs. The oldest out of the bunch just chuckles good-heartedly.

“How many people did you sleep with anyways?” Luke asks. Ashton can tell he isn’t mad, just curious.

“Let’s just say I went to too many frat parties when I was getting my degree,” Mr. Clifford grimaces.

“As cute as this is,” Calum clears his throat. “Some of us here are trying to eat here.”

“Then eat,” Mr. Clifford rolls his eyes.

“I can’t concentrate on eating when there’s too much sex talk. I’m getting horny,” Calum fakes a moan. Ashton laughs at that.

★★★

“Won’t your mum be worried you haven’t gone home in a while?” Calum asks.

“I told her I’m having a bros’ night at Luke’s,” Ashton chuckles. “I can ask the same to you.”

“Oh, they’re out of the county for a while… dunno what they’re doing, but I do have the house to myself until Friday,” Calum waggles his eyebrows.

“You’re always so horny, and I’m the werewolf here,” Ashton presses a kiss to Calum’s cheek. “Let’s go to Macca’s, I want a Big Mac!”

And Ashton is now sat at a table with a Big Mac, with a large milkshake, as Calum checks his phone, his burger in his other hand. He looks tad bit worried.

“Hm?” Ashton asks—okay, he didn’t really—as Calum checks his phone again.

“My mum texted me again,” Calum sighs. “I think she knows I’m not with Luke right now.”

“For a hunter secretly dating a werewolf, you sure do suck a lying,” Ashton laughs, making Calum groan.

“I don’t suck at sucking you off though,” Calum states in a comeback. Ashton arches a brow and sips his milkshake in response. “You would know. I sucked you off.”

“I think it was more of me fucking your mouth more than anything else,” Ashton corrects his mate. “But you did well, so don’t pout.” He adds quickly when Calum starts pouting.

 

After their McDonald’s lunch date, they go back to Ashton’s place.

“You know, if you’re gonna start dating someone, the least you can do is tell me,” his mum comments when he walks through the door.

“Sorry, mum, I was too caught up on everything else,” Ashton smiles apologetically.

“Just be safe, yeah?” she winks at them, leaving both Ashton and Calum blushing.

“Your mum seems chill,” Calum mumbles as soon as they’re in the sanctions of Ashton’s room. “She didn’t say anything remotely against me.”

“It’s hard to hate you,” Ashton tells his mate.

“You never hated me?” Calum raises his brows in surprise.

“Well, you were an asshole towards me _and_ threatened to kill me the night we met,” Ashton chuckles, his head now laid on Calum’s lap. Wordlessly, Calum start playing with Ashton’s curls. “But, I don’t know, I still felt the connection between us.”

“I fingered myself when I got back home that night,” Calum giggles with his confession, making Ashton choke on his spit. Calum starts giggling harder as Ashton tries to calm his breathing. “What? You look hot as fuck under the silver moonlight, has anyone told you?”

“No, but thanks anyways,” Ashton mutters once he catches his breath. Calum giggles before dipping his head down to capture Ashton’s lips at an angle. “You threatened to kill me but you still found me a wanking material?”

“Hey, I have working eyes!” Calum protests, giggling against Ashton’s lips before pulling away. “I don’t think I came so hard… okay, maybe apart from the times you knotted me.”

“How do you know so much about werewolf sex?”

“Oh, you know the saying ‘know thy enemy’, don’t ask me how the hunters know that. Probably hitched off with a werewolf or two even though we’re supposed to hate your kind,” Calum giggles.

“You can’t hate me, I’m your mate,” Ashton growls out, his eyes shifting colours.

“Calm down, babe, I never said I hate you,” Calum giggles more. Ashton keeps growling.

Calum rolls his eyes before reattaching their lips back together, until Ashton detaches for a second to push Calum down onto the mattress, straddling Calum’s thighs before resuming their kiss. He growls again, more possessive, starting to grind their crotches together. Calum starts to make mewling noises, both their cocks hard under their clothes. Ashton does a quick job of ridding themselves of their clothes and scoots down until his head is in between his mate’s thighs. Smirking up at Calum and winking at him, Ashton laps at his mate’s hole. He doesn’t waste much time before he prods his tongue inside, stroking Calum’s walls with his tongue. The delectable noises his mate makes as he continues to lick him out is getting him harder than he’s ever been before, so he just wraps his hand around his dick, his other hand on Calum’s thigh, before he introduces his fingers to Calum’s hole and thrusts them in time of his tongue strokes.

It doesn’t take long before Calum comes all over his stomach, and Ashton jerks off until he releases all over Calum’s chest as well.

“I’m dead tired,” Calum whines as Ashton comes back with a wet towel to wipe his chest clean. “Stop tiring me out.”

“Stop looking so damn edible then,” Ashton laughs.

He’s still laughing when Calum thwacks him with his pillow.

★★★

Ashton wakes up and Calum isn’t in his arms anymore. He looks around his room and finds a note on his nightstand.

_Mum’s starting to get suspicious and she and my dad are back. I had to go back home. :(_

Ashton sighs and puts the note inside his ‘memories’ box. He hasn’t put anything in it for a while… few things worth mentioning in the box are the first tooth that fell out (he kept it, he doesn’t know why, and now he isn’t getting rid of it), the Garchomp card he stole from Luke, (Luke still doesn’t know where it is, and he left it in Ashton’s room), and a family photo they took when both his siblings were still small.

(He isn’t going to print out intimate photos him Calum he might have taken and put it into the box when anyone can just rummage through his box, so there’s that.)

“Trouble in paradise?” his mum asks when Ashton emerges alone.

“No, his mum didn’t know we were spending the night together, so he had to go home,” Ashton shakes his head.

They eat their breakfasts in silence.

★★★

The summer break is here, so Ashton is free to visit Calum any day he wants. Except, for the glaring fact that, Calum’s parents hate him. He doesn’t know why he deserves the hatred. He didn’t kill Mali, Alex confessed it was him.

“You know, you’re awfully quiet when you’re thinking,” Alex tsks.

“How are you still alive when the Hoods are trying to hunt you?” Ashton is curious.

“‘Cause I’m an omega with a working brain,” Alex rolls his eyes. “I’m still curious to find out why your alpha hasn’t claimed you yet.”

“Maybe the alpha got tracked and killed?” Ashton arches an eyebrow.

“That’s unlikely. I haven’t detected werewolf blood since my pack got killed,” Alex grimaces.

★★★

“Damn, at least your boyfriend isn’t eight years older than you and is your Arts teacher,” Luke quips, his tongue poking out in concentration as he tries to defeat a boss. “Like, your mum’s okay with you dating and fucking your boyfriend. My mum would disown me and throw me onto the streets if she ever finds out I’m getting fucked by sex god himself.”

“I think I could’ve lived my entire life without finding that out,” Ashton mutters, but still loud enough for Luke to hear him. Luke pauses his game just to throw a cushion at him, which Ashton catches with his werewolf reflexes.

“I hate you,” Luke groans when his assault fails and goes back to playing his game.

“Nuh, I’m that one extra brother you never asked for,” Ashton chuckles, making Luke groan in response.

“Do you mind? I’m trying to kill a boss here,” Luke hisses at Ashton, which Ashton gladly ignores and keeps talking.

“I can see what you see in Mr. Clifford,” Ashton goes on. “He’s so tall, handsome as hell. He’s so bad and he does it so well.”

“Um, did you just quote Taylor Swift?” Luke scowls, his eyes still on the screen.

“Slight chance,” Ashton chuckles, stealing the controller from Luke. “Here, you’re doing it wrong so let me kill the boss for you.”

 

Ashton throws the controller onto the floor not even ten minutes later, failing at defeating the boss. Luke laughs at him, then remembers it’s his copy of his game so it’s a bad thing both of them couldn’t defeat the boss.

They end up going to KFC together (solely due to the fact that Luke hates Macca’s) and Ashton curses the moment he steps inside. He wasn’t expecting to see anyone.

“Oh, is that your human sidekick?” Alex sneers when they’re within Luke’s earshot.

“Who are you calling a sidekick?” Luke huffs.

Alex scoffs, looking amused. “And I thought you’d be the one needing to heel, not your human boyfriend.” He tells Ashton.

“Alex, are you stalking me?” Ashton asks.

“I’m not stalking anyone. If you don’t recall, I got here first,” Ales tsks. “Control yourself.”

“So, _he’s_ Alex?” Luke asks, giving the omega a once-over. Ashton can’t blame his friend. With slightly tanned skin, muscular torso, and to-die-for bluish green eyes, Alex could be every twink’s dream lad.

“I don’t usually do twinks, but I’ll make an exception for ya,” Alex winks at Luke, causing him to blush.

“Um, I have a boyfriend…” Luke manages to squeak out.

“Wait,” Alex takes a step closer to Luke and sniffs at him. Both Luke and Ashton are puzzled. “You smell like magic.”

“Isn’t the concept of humans being partly wolf magical?” Ashton asks, dumbfounded.

“He doesn’t just smell like a werewolf, more precisely, you, he smells like he’s been rubbing off against someone who knows magic. Not spells and shit, just… nature and shit.”

★★★

“Is there a secret best friend you’ve made?” Ashton asks Luke on the way back home from KFC. “I’ll be sad.”

“I don’t have any real friends apart from you,” Luke hisses out. “I have classmates I talk to and that’s about it.”

“Then who the—”

“Hey! Watch when you stop like you suddenly became a tree!” Luke whines after bumping into Ashton. “What?”

“Mr. Clifford,” Ashton curses.

“What about him?”

 

Twenty minutes and a protesting Luke later, Ashton and Luke arrive at Mr. Clifford’s flat. Ashton knocks on the door rather loudly.

“Baby boy, isn’t it a little too early to—hi, Mr. Irwin,” Mr. Clifford changes his sentence from whatever it was going to be. “I’m guessing Luke is with you?”

“He threatened me,” Luke whines.

“I’m not all that surprised,” Mr. Clifford chuckles. “After all, werewolves are known to be… volatile.”

“So, you knew all along,” Ashton ignores Luke’s little gasp of surprise. “You were sent here.”

“Your alpha shouldn’t have turned you,” the older male looks like he’s sorry for Ashton. “As a druid, I was sent here as a buffer between you and the hunters.”

“I’m not part of any packs,” Ashton mumbles.

“Your alpha hasn’t claimed you, I’ve heard the rumours,” Mr. Clifford hums. “A beta who was turned three months ago but yet to be claimed by his alpha. It’s a rare occasion.”

 

Ashton invites himself inside Mr. Clifford’s flat with a grumbling Luke behind him. As soon as they’re at the living room area of the suite, Luke claims his spot on Mr. Clifford’s lap like it’s a natural habitat for him. Ashton tries to repress the flashbacks of the day he heard the two going at it.

“Usually, I wake up to Luke—”

“With all due respect, Mr. Clifford, I don’t _ever_ wish to hear about which position Luke prefers to be fucked in when you two just woke up,” Ashton interrupts his teacher, earning an amuse chuckle from the said teacher, and an embarrassed whine from Luke. “How come you never approached me with… supernatural business?”

“I was waiting for the rogue alpha to show up and claim you first. I’m supposed to be the emissary for the pack, not just you,” Mr. Clifford clears his throat in attempt to collect himself. “I don’t think your alpha planned on you surviving the bite.”

“Good to know, can you kick him out of your flat so we can have sex now?” Luke whines, and Ashton growls. “Haven’t had your—”

“I’m leaving, gosh!”

★★★

“Took him long enough,” Luke pouts as his best friend scurries out of his boyfriend-teacher’s flat. “But as I was rudely interrupted, I haven’t had your dick too long.”

“It’s been three days,” Mr. Clifford—or _Mikey_ , as Luke likes to call him—chuckles. “Your teenage hormones are overwhelmed, yeah?”

“Oh, hush, Gordon,” Luke huffs, punching at Michael’s chest feebly.

“Don’t use my middle name, I think my parents gave me that one out of spite,” Michael huffs back.

“Are your parents druids too?” Luke asks, totally curious.

“They come from bloodlines of ancient druids, but they aren’t… I just was force to practise when the rogue alpha was alerted in the area,” Michael nuzzles his nose to Luke’s, making him giggle. “And you’re fully human, we can establish that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Luke giggles again.

“Why don’t you shut up and get naked?”

Luke knows it’s wrong, having an affair with a teacher, but Michael is just a druid disguised as a teacher for the wolf problems in his city, as he’s put it, so…

“Are you gonna leave me once everything is solved?” Luke breathes out, his body underneath Michael’s. “Are you gonna go back to where you came from?”

“I don’t plan on going anywhere, with or without the rogue alpha case solved,” Michael assures him. “I’m not going to leave you, Luke.”

“But—”

Luke’s words get caught in his throat when Michael presses their lips together in a heated kiss, grinding their hips together. The word that was caught soon dissolves into needy, shameless moans, bucking his hips back.

“I don’t need prep,” Luke tells Michael when the druid retrieves his bottle of lube. “Jus’ need you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I swear to God, Michael, if you don’t stick your dick inside me right now—”

Luke chokes on a moan the moment Michael pushes his way inside, the feeling always overwhelming no matter how many times they do it. The burn from the initial stretch dissipates into pleasure once Michael starts thrusting into his prostate. He wraps his arms around Michael’s shoulder, only to rake them up and down Michael’s pale back.

“Fuck, I love you,” Luke mewls out as he releases between their bodies. “I mean… fuck…”

“It’s okay,” Michael grouses, his face looking like the way it always does right before he comes. Luke starts sucking onto Michael’s shoulder and his boyfriend comes undone. “… ‘cause I love you too.”

They lay on Michael’s bed for hours, fingers entwined.

★★★

“I’m surprised your parents haven’t killed me in my sleep,” Ashton mutters softly as he plays with Calum’s hair, the said boy laying his head on his lap. “They think a beta killed your sister, which isn’t technically wrong. He was a beta when she was killed. But the fact that Alex is also still alive is pretty weird.”

“Do you have a secret creepy obsession with Alex?” Calum pouts.

“No, baby, it’s more like he has a secret creepy obsession with me,” Ashton chuckles, raising Calum’s hand to press a kiss to his knuckles. “He’s always showing up whenever I go to the clearing.”

“Oh, shit…” Calum’s face hardens. “He’s not stalking you, Ashton… okay, technically, he is, but you’re not the target.”

“What?” Ashton feels dumb.

“You’re only the bait.”

Realisation dawns on Ashton like cold tidal waves.

“Alex wants the rogue alpha to show up when I’m at the clearing so he can steal the alpha’s powers.”

 

Calum told Ashton that he’s going to come clean with his relationship and tell his parents about what’s really been going on. Ashton is still reluctant about Calum telling his parents, who now have more reasons to hunt his ass down, but he can’t think of anything better.

“I know you’re out there, Alex,” Ashton growls, already shifted. “I know your plan.”

“Took you long enough,” Alex jumps down from the stupid boulder behind Ashton. “I’m pretty sure I told you a beta can become an alpha in two ways.”

“Yes. Either from the alpha giving up their power by healing fatal wounds, or by killing an alpha. I didn’t know…”

“Dearest Ashton, the Hood family killed my pack. Do you really think I was going to just be an omega forever?” Alex clicks his tongue. “The best way to start plotting a revenge is to start a pack myself.”

“You would kill another of _us_ just to get your twisted revenge scheme going?” Ashton can’t believe Alex admitted it. “What kind of a psychopath are you?”

“The kind who wants to revenge his pack,” Alex growls.

 _He’s clearly far too gone if he’s calling himself a psychopath_ … Ashton isn’t too sure if he’s ready for this. He’s never fought another werewolf before, most definitely not a seasoned one… and what will he do if he manages to defeat Alex in a brawl? _I’m not gonna kill someone, that’s not how it works!_

“You win.”

The voice is deep and calm, like an ancient tree, but feminine. Both Ashton and Alex turn towards the direction where the voice is coming from.

The alpha looks unamused, her jet-black hair tied into a ponytail. Her _human_ eyes are the colour of the storm clouds, with oval-shaped face. It’s surprising to Ashton that she’s remaining calm enough to be in her human form when she knows an omega wants to kill her.

“I wasn’t planning on meeting with our cute little Ashton here, but you, Alex, intrigue me,” the alpha cackles mirthlessly. “Thinking you can kill me? That’s almost adorable.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Alex scoffs.

“Why did you bite me that night?” Ashton isn’t mad—okay, maybe he is a little bit—just curious. “I was looking for Mr. Cuddles.”

“I saw a potential in you, Ashton. I, too, lost my pack so I wanted to start fresh here. I wasn’t going to turn random teens and turn them. I knew I could count on your body to turn,” the alpha clicks her tongue.

“A name would be nice,” Alex scoffs again.

“And why’s that?”

“I believe it’s polite to ask people that before killing them,” Alex grins.

“Daphne,” the alpha—Daphne—rolls her eyes. “But you’re still an idiot if you think you can kill me.”

“I—”

Ashton stops talking mid-sentence when he hears a silver bullet whistling past his ear. He curses when he realises that all three of them were busy bickering to hear the hunters approaching them.

“Well, well, well,” Mr. Hood looks pleased. “We have the omega _and_ the rogue alpha.”

“I tried to stop them, I really did,” Calum glares at his parents.

“Shut up, Calum. That omega killed your sister,” Mrs. Hood barks at her son.

“Ashton didn’t do anything. He hasn’t killed anyone since he was turned!” Calum points out.

“He still scratched your arm, Cal, have you already forgiven him for that because you’re blinded to see anything?” Mrs. Hood hisses back at Calum. “He’s a werewolf, Cal! Not a single werewolf is good!”

“He’s—”

“Oh, wow, your mate is a hunter?” Daphne speaks in Calum’s stead. “How unlikely.”

“No one asked for your opinion,” Ashton growls at his alpha.

“And I don’t give a shit about what you think,” Daphne grins at him.

“If you’re all done talking…” Mrs. Hood cocks her pistol. “We’re here to kill you.”

It all happens very quickly. Daphne is suddenly way over where Mrs. Hood is, and knocked her unconscious. She manages to dodge the bullet Mr. Hood shot and renders him unconscious as well.

“And they say the Hoods are best at what they do,” Daphne scoffs. “Now, little hunter, I’m not leaving you unharmed because you’re my beta’s mate. I’m leaving you unharmed because you haven’t pissed me off.” She turns towards Alex, her unamused expression back on her face. “As for you, Alex… I should kill you.”

“Try me,” Alex bares his fangs.

“I’m not going to,” Daphne tells him, surprising Ashton. The gasp from Alex tells the same story from the omega. “I’m going to invite you to my pack.”

“I want to kill you, how do you trust me?” Alex asks the alpha.

“You said you want a new pack. Instead of killing me and taking my alpha powers, you can just be part of my pack instead. You wanted a pack, right?”

“But that doesn’t mean—”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Calum shouts. “Just accept it and move on! And no killing my family. Please.”

“The hunter is right,” Daphne nods. “Apart from the ‘no killing’ shit.”

“Alex, dude, we gotta work together as wolves,” Ashton puts his two cents in.

Something Ashton can’t identify flash in Alex’s eyes. He hopes it’s something on the positive side of the spectrum.

“… fine…”

★★★

“Your alpha claimed you?” Mr. Clifford asks Ashton, with his lap taken by Luke, and he just nods. Calum is sat next to him in Mr. Clifford’s office. “And her name is Daphne… I think I’ve heard of her.”

“Yeah?” Ashton cocks his eyebrows.

“Her family, at least. She was born an alpha. She killed two of her siblings, both born betas, who tried to usurp her.”

“I love family drama!” Calum scoffs, his words sarcastic.

“I don’t recall inviting Mr. Hood here,” Mr. Clifford narrows his eyes.

“I invited myself here since Ashton said he was coming here,” Calum scoffs again. “And why do you dislike me? I’m your student. You’re suppose to encourage me on stuff.”

“I will not encourage you on hunting down werewolves alongside your family,” Mr. Clifford snorts, then presses a kiss to Luke’s cheek, making the lanky blond giggle.

“So, now what? Daphne made her presence be known, you can do your druid business now, right?” Calum arches a brow.

“It’s not that simple but in a nutshell, yes. I mediate between her pack and your parents,” Mr. Clifford nods.

“And we all join hands and skip merrily into the sunset,” Calum scoffs yet again. Ashton clocks him on the back of his head. “What?”

“I still feel like there’s a missing piece in this… Alex was so proud of admitting that he killed your sister…” Ashton doesn’t know how to word this.

“She died, Ashton. My parents told me a beta killed her,” Calum’s eyes darken from a mixture of anger and sadness.

“You didn’t see her dead body yourself,” Ashton points out. “Or did you?”

“Ashton…”

“I’m lost,” Luke quips in. “Ashton Fletcher Irwin, where are you getting at?”

“He means—”

“Wow, you guys talk loudly,” a female voice quips in, making all four men to turn their heads around. “And I _so_ did not plan this at all.”

Calum looks like he’s looking at a ghost, and judging by the appearance of their intruder, Ashton can tell why.

“Hello, baby brother,” Mali grins at Calum, who still looks surprised.

“Mali… you’re… a werewolf now?” Calum sounds like he can’t believe his own eyes. “Mum told me you died…”

“After that last remaining wolf from the pack tried to kill me, an alpha bit me. I was hoping my body was too weak to reject the bite,” Mali looks exasperated.

“You should’ve killed yourself when you were turned,” Calum growls out.

“That’s not a nice thing to say to your sister,” Luke frowns.

“He’s right,” Mali sighs. “The hunters take their own lives when they’re bitten by a wolf and don’t reject the change.”

“The _what_?”

Mr. Clifford looks at Ashton in a way that clearly says _you haven’t told your best friend_?

“You didn’t tell Luke?” Calum seems more surprised than disappointed.

“Well, I thought the fact that we’re mates is more important than the fact that you’re supposed to kill me if I were ever to hurt a human,” Ashton hisses back.

“That’s… nice to know…” Luke trails off.

“Now, you might be asking yourselves the question why I haven’t killed myself,” Mali grins. “As a former hunter, I had vast equipment to do so. Shouldn’t stain our family name, yeah?”

“You can just get to the point,” Calum grits his teeth.

“Simple. I was selfish. Still am. I don’t want to off myself just because that’s the code I was raised to believe,” Mali grins. “Everyone’s entitled to live their life the way they want.”

“Mum wouldn’t have just—”

“She used a fake body for my supposed funeral, Calum, do you really think she cared I was dying before the alpha bit me?” Mali scoffs at her brother. “She just left my body where she found it, without even checking for any signs of life. It was like ‘oh, Mali got fatally wounded, better leave her alone.’”

“Tragic,” Mr. Clifford quips in. “And I’m guessing Daphne claimed you.”

Three pairs of eyes turn towards the druid.

“You knew all along?” Ashton feels betrayed.

“I had my assumptions… I’m more surprised that the matriarch of the Hoods hunters didn’t kill her,” Mr. Clifford jerks his head in Mali’s direction.

“Cal, I don’t want you to hate me,” Mali speaks as though no one else spoke. “I just didn’t know the right time to tell you… then you got yourself a werewolf boyfriend, so I thought maybe, just maybe, you’d understand.”

“I don’t hate you… you should’ve killed yourself according to the Code, but I’m glad you decided to choose for yourself,” Calum whispers, but loudly enough for everyone to hear without needing super-hearing.

Ashton lets out a small _aw_ when Calum hugs his sister.

★★★

**_Three years later…_ **

“This is the dumbest idea you’ve ever had,” Ashton hisses at Alex, who just scoffs at him. “Like, really?”

“Mali seems to disagree and she’s Calum’s _sister_ ,” Ashton’s pack mate seems to be indifferent to Ashton’s nervous state. “Right, Mali?”

“Ashton, you’re being ridiculous,” Mali is apparently on the side of Alex. “Calum has been in love with you for three years. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You know, I’m against the idea of Ashton marrying a hunter, but I value my beta’s happiness, so…” Daphne shrugs.

 _I hate every member of my pack_ , Ashton growls to himself.

“Luke told me to—why is your entire pack here? Are they here to maul me? Dude, not nice,” Calum frowns.

“They’re here to harass me, when I told them I don’t want them here,” Ashton growls at his pack mates, who just all give him a thumbs-up. “Calum Thomas Hood, this was the very place we found each other—okay, fine, I knocked you over, don’t give me that look—so I find this the only suitable place to ask you this. I know your parents still hate me due to the fact that someone—” Ashton gets interrupted by Daphne’s indignant huff. “—bit me, but that doesn’t alter the fact that I love you. That we’re _mates_. Yes, I know that the bond between us as mates is strong enough, but I know you’re human, always will be unless someone…” Daphne glares at him this time. “…anyways… so, as a human, I know for sure you want stuff any humans want…” He gets down on one knee and pulls out a sunflower-yellow box, opening it to reveal a ring with tiny garnet stones surrounding a round-cut diamond. “Will you marry me?”

Ashton knows for sure that Mali is recording this moment, the only person who he actually asked to be here, and Calum’s face is stained by happy tears.

“Yes!”

Ashton seals the rest of forever with Calum when he rises back up to his feet and kisses his fiancé.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't expect another oneshot before Christmas, I'm gonna be busy, unless it's a short one, but the next oneshot I have in mind DESERVES to be long.


End file.
